Necessary End
by Clarin321
Summary: Edward finds a way to bring Alphonse's body back, but at the cost of his own life. Not ready to give up his life, he decides to find an alternative solution. But what happens when he realizes that it may be the only way? Mangaverse.
1. Regrets

Disclaimer- I do not own Fullmetal Alchemist.

AN- Here is our third story for FMA! And, surprise, its not a oneshot!! This will probably have at least two more chapters, if I'm lucky. This chapter is somewhat of a weird prologue type of thing, by the way. Please review and tell me what you think!!!

A note on the timeline- This chapter takes place a year after Edward becomes a state alchemist, when he's about 13. The rest takes place a year later, I think.

* * *

He knew what was coming. He always knew what was coming; every single time he had this dream. Yet, each time, when he felt ready to tell himself, no, don't do it, he was overcome by a feeling of giddy anticipation. His 10-year-old self took over, and soon enough, hope filled his entire being, giving him the illusion of invincibility. This couldn't go wrong, he thought, not when it felt so right.

Dream Edward glanced over to his brother's figure; eerily illuminated by the light from the glowing transmutation circle they were leaning over, and felt his lips quirk upwards into a smile. He turned his gaze back to the pulsating light given off by the intricate transmutation circle. His entire body felt alive, partially with adrenaline, but mostly with excitement. He was going to see his mother in a matter of moments; he could practically feel it. His smile widened into a grin as he imagined her smiling at him, telling them how proud she was of them for bringing her back…

Abruptly, the cool blue light grew darker, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned dark and foreboding. Ed's eyes widened in confusion as he watched dark black lines spread out from the glowing circle. None of the books he had read on human transmutation had said anything about this. Both Edward and Alphonse frantically watched as an enormous eye opened in the center of their circle, obscuring their view of the materials that would become their mother. Thin black shadows rose form around the eye, reaching out like tentacles, and reached out and attached on to Alphonse's arm.

Alphonse screams tore through the room. Edward stared in horror as he realized that Al's arm was being deconstructed.

"Al!" He cried, desperately trying to reach his younger brother, but falling over as he felt something tug at his left leg. Tears were beginning to form in his eyes as he glanced back at his leg, and watched it be taken apart, the skin, muscle and bone broken as easily as paper. Something suddenly clicked in his mind- this was a rebound. He had read about this in countless alchemy texts, but had never let himself even consider that one might occur during their own transmutation.

"Brother! Brother! Aggghh! _Brother!" _Alphonse screamed in terror, hopelessly reaching out for his brother. Fear gripped at Edward's heart. It was taking his brother away.

"Alphonse!" His hand was outstretched; he was so close to reaching Al's already deconstructing hand…

The world exploded into a whirlwind of bright colors, which suddenly gave way to a blinding blank white. His mind was blank. What had he been doing? He knew vaguely that it had been important, but he simply couldn't recall. He looked around his strangely white surroundings, until his eyes adjusted enough to see a hardly discernable figure, sitting directly in front of him.

He barely registered their surreal conversation. He was going to see the truth? He barely had anytime to question it, before the thin black hands reached out and pulled him through a huge doorway, while he helplessly screamed in panic.

It was as if all of the information in the world was being crammed into his head all at once. Thousands of images flashed through his mind in a single moment, at such a breakneck speed that he was sure his head was going to explode from the pressure. Through the agony, he was could see a woman's figure just ahead of him, and he suddenly knew who it was.

His mother. In a gesture that felt inexplicably familiar, he outstretched his hand for her to reach; he was so close to her-

He was once more standing before the truth, his arm still outstretched. Excitement coursed through his veins. Human transmutation- the truth was so close that he could feel it. He would be able to see his mother again, after all.

" Please! Show me again!" He pleaded to the strange white figure, his eyes wide in anticipation. The figure simply grinned devilishly, sending a shiver down Edward's spine.

"Oh, but what about the toll?" The truth asked him in his chilling voice, and Edward once again felt the uncomfortable feeling of his leg being taken apart. He realized in dismay that his leg was rematerializing on the figures blank frame, the whiteness replaced with a light flesh tone.

Pain erupted from the stump where his leg had once been, and stars popped in his eyes as he screamed in agony. He was once more in the dark basement of their house, keeling on the cold stone floor. Blood spilled from the open wound and slid slowly across the floor, staining it a sickening deep red hue.

"No! They took him away! Alphonse! Alphonse!" Edward called desperately to his brother, his stomach swooping terribly as he saw Alphonse's empty clothes lying, abandoned, on the floor where his brother had been only moments ago.

"No! This isn't what we wanted! No…" Edward cried. "Help… Someone… Mom," he murmured, suddenly remembering his mother. Had the transmutation worked? The thought of seeing his mother brought a spark to his eyes, but it was quickly stifled as he looked up to see the result of their transmutation. Though he had seen this figure many times in dreams like this, the utter terror and shock it caused him never seized to reappear in full.

The creature's body only vaguely resembled a human; its skin was a sickening dark gray color, ribs protruding painfully through the film-like layer of flesh-like substance. It's limbs bent at impossible angles, as it craned its monstrous face over to watch Edward. He heard it struggle for breath, wheezing until it finally hacked out blood. Edward gasped and edged backwards against the wall, as he stared into its blank eyes, framed by stringy black hair. He was bile rose in his throat as its arm reached out towards him, before it snapped and lay limp on the ground. Blood streamed around the dying creature, its sharp smell creating a rancid smell in the room.

Ed let out a horrified sound, his hands holding his head frantically. He could only manage to utter a couple of choked words, before he felt the bile rise in his throat, and he vomited on the ground.

"No," he panted, gritting his teeth, "We didn't want this… Al. No, it's all my fault." And suddenly, it struck him. The place where he had seen the truth, the gate… That was where Al was. It had broken down his body, had taken it the same way as his body, but it couldn't do anything to his soul. The truth couldn't take away his little brother, he thought, anger surging through him.

He hastily ripped off a strip of cloth and tied it around the stump where his leg had been, careful not to look at the gore surrounding his cut off skin, and then crawled painstakingly to the decorative suits of armor propped up in the corner of the room. He blindly reached out and grabbed the heavy leg of one, pulling it to the ground with a deafening crash. He dragged his lifeless leg to reach the cold metal of the armor, drawing a transmutation circle in his head.

With the wet blood that still coated his fingers, he drew the circle on the inside of the armor's backside.

" Give him back," he growled through teeth gritted in pain and determination, "He's my little brother! I don't care if it's my arm. Or both of my arms!" He cried, finishing the circle, and struggling to move his sluggish hands, heavy from blood-loss.

"You can even have my heart," he whispered, before his voice once again rose to a shout. " Just please! Give him back! He's my little brother!"

Thinking back on it, what he did back there, bringing Al's soul back from the gate, probably shouldn't have even worked. How had he managed to pull Al's soul out, rather than some other soul? The truth wasn't known for being extremely sympathetic to any cause, no matter how noble. Honestly, to Ed, one arm really didn't seem like enough to be equivalent to Al's soul.

In the midst of the despair and massive blood loss, Edward really hadn't been focusing too well on the theory behind his soul binding transmutation. He knew that he didn't have much time, and with every second that Al was gone, his chances of success were becoming slimmer and slimmer, As a result, he didn't think, he simply slapped his hands together and hoped for the best.

But now, for a split second of the dream, he remembered.

* * *

Edward bolted upright, breathing heavily, his eyes wide. It took a while for him to realize that he wasn't 10 anymore; he was 13. He wasn't in Resembool, he was in East Central, in a cheap hotel with Alphonse.

He simply sat in place for a moment, not daring to move, in case his epiphany slipped away. His breathing slowly calmed, and he realized that his entire body was shaking slightly. He disregarded the fact, instead focusing solely on the thoughts that swirled endlessly in his mind.

Having had such a vivid dream, a near perfect recount of the failed transmutation, he had experienced the blind terror that he had felt in that moment for a second time. He suddenly remembered the exact thoughts that ran through his mind at the moment that he brought back Alphonse. The significance of that tiny circle of blood on Alphonse's armor had suddenly become clear to him. He didn't take a moment to revel in the unmistakable genius of his soul transmutation, but instead, he threw the tangled sheets off of his still-shaking body, and rushed over to the small desk in the corner of their dank military dorm room.

Edward's human fingers fumbled uncontrollably while he struggled to find his "travel log," where he kept his alchemy notes. He growled softly to himself, squinting in the darkness that obscured his view of the contents of the desk. Finally, his hand felt the thin, worn leather of the small notebook, and he quickly closed his hand around it, and turned to look for a pen.

Suddenly, Ed heard the sound of metal creaking against wood echo through the small room. It was the exact sound that he had unconsciously been dreading. He started violently and spun around, hiding his notebook behind his back, though he knew that it wouldn't be visible in the dorm's dim light.

"Brother?" Al inquired in his boyish voice, the soft, metallic echo accompanying his words.

"Yeah?" Ed asked, trying to keep his tone appropriately chipper and questioning.

"What are you doing?" Alphonse asked, sounding perplexed. Edward let out a breathless, slightly hysteric laugh, and ran his hand nervously through his hair, looking sheepish.

" Uh… I couldn't sleep. I'm, um, going to take a walk for a bit, okay? I'll be back in an hour or so," Ed answered, his words rushed. Before Al could protest, he pulled on a casual, button-down shirt and a pair of pants, grabbed his coat, and burst out of the door. While quickly walking through the shadowed hallway, Edward stashed his journal into his back pocket and hastened his pace.

Edward made his way with a ghost-like stupor through the plain hotel hallway, and out into the chilly, autumn night. He pulled his coat closer around his shoulders as he braced himself against the chilling breeze. Before long, his pace had quickened to an all-out sprint, and soon enough, he stood, gasping for breath, in front of the military library.

Ed had only made it halfway up the steps before a strong arm clamped heavily down on his shoulder.

"Stop right there, boy. This library is restricted to military personnel. You wouldn't happen to be a military officer, would you, kid?" A tall, uniform-clad military guard mocked, much to Edward's chagrin. He was in no mood to argue with disbelieving adults at the moment.

"Actually, I am. I'm a state alchemist, the Fullmetal Alchemist, now, if you'll excuse me…" Ed replied quickly, moving to pass the night guard, but was once again stopped by a firm hand against his chest.

"Yeah right, kid," the guard rolled his eyes, "Even the youngest state alchemist in history wouldn't be that short… You got a pocket watch, pipsqueak?" He laughed tauntingly at the suddenly murderous look that appeared on Edward's face at the mention of his height.

"Actually, I have it right-," Edward shot back, through clenched teeth, reaching a hand down to his belt loop, before finding it surprisingly empty. Cursing mentally, Edward slapped his hand to his head in frustration. His pocket watch must have fallen out of his pocket when he was rushing out…

Without another word, Edward spun around and shot down the steps. There was no point in negotiating with such an aggravating man. The military officer quirked an eyebrow at Edward's rude exit.

"Crazy kid…" he muttered.

Without thinking, Edward found himself weaving through the dark streets of he city, towards the only other place that he could think of that would offer some uninterrupted quiet. So, ten minutes later, Edward burst into East Command, and reluctantly made his way through to Mustang's thankfully vacant office. Applying basic alchemy, Edward picked the lock to Mustang's office with frightening ease. Sinking down into Mustang's couch, he pulled out his notebook and set to work. The theory was miraculously still there, perfect and complete in his mind.

_Today, Alphonse and I traveled for eight hours on a train to..._

_

* * *

_

Colonel Roy Mustang had certainly not expected to be dealing with a break-in so early in the morning. But he was pretty sure that he had left the door to his office door securely locked, and he was absolutely certain that he hadn't left it wide open. He liked to think that he wasn't already old enough to be _that_ forgetful.

He ran an irritated hand through his hand, deciding whether to simply see who had broken into his office without backup, or to call Hawkeye to supervise, or, better yet, deal with the whole matter later, and get a strong cup of coffee instead. Sighing, he decided to choose the option that had the least chance of him ending up ridded with bullets, courtesy of his often over-protective First Lieutenant.

So, he marched into his subordinates' office, to meet the sight of Havoc, Breda, Fury, Falman and Hawkeye all milling around the office, not surprised in the slightest that each and every one of them had come in earlier than he did.

"Hawkeye!" Roy called to Riza, who immediately jumped into attention.

"Sir?" She asked, to which Roy's only response was to beckon her to follow him through the hall. Roy carefully ignored the questioning looks that all of his subordinates shot at him before he shut the door.

"At ease, Lieutenant." He said, to Hawkeye, who relaxed marginally.

"What is it, sir?" She asked curiously.

"Probably nothing, but I think that someone might have broken into my office. I simply thought you might prefer to be present while I investigate," He replied, his eyes focused directly forward, not meeting Hawkeye's gaze.

"What?!" Riza's eyes widened in confusion. It wasn't as if breaking into a highly guarded military command center was an easy task. Roy's flippancy was hard to read.

She looked up, realizing that they had made it to Roy's office, the door of which was suspiciously open, but didn't contain much sign of forced entry. Her fingers twitched towards her gun holster. She watched warily as Roy opened the door to his office slowly, cautiously, and walked in with deadly silence. She followed, her hand closing around the cool metal of her gun.

The pair glanced around the room for signs of a trespasser, but, upon casual inspection, it appeared as if nothing in the office was out of place. Suddenly, Riza heard a small, muffled breath from the large couch in the center of the room. Instantly, her gun was trained on the very spot, safety released with deadly precision. Nothing prepared her for the sight that she was met with.

"Fullmetal?!" Roy exclaimed in shock. They both stared, speechless, at Edward, who was dead asleep on Roy's couch, holding onto his worn, black notebook tightly, as if it were liable to disappear at any moment. The young alchemist was apparently oblivious to the two military officers standing over him, one of which had a gun pointed directly at his head.

Roy barely remembered to close his mouth, which was gaping open in a rather unattractive way, before glancing over to Hawkeye for support. When she offered none, he set to the task of waking Edward up.

"Fullmetal!!" He yelled, in the most official sounding tone he could muster. Edward's eyes flew open, and he jumped so violently that he fell to the floor with a loud thud and the clanging of his automail as it hit the ground. He sat up groggily and looked around with a dazed expression on his face, obviously trying to remember where he was at the moment. When he caught sight of Mustang, standing over him, arms crossed and a look on his face that clearly said 'you had better explain this one, and explain it good, or you'd better start running.'

"Oh crap," Edward cursed his situation, his eyes widening in a horror as he jumped to his feet and clumsily saluted Mustang.

"Okay, Fullmetal, care to tell me why you decided that breaking into a _military command center_ in the middle of the night seemed like a good idea to you?" Roy asked, his dark eyes flashing dangerously in a way that could either mean amusement or fury. Edward took a moment to frantically run through possible excuses in his mind, but, coming up dry, decided to wing it. He forced a devilish smile on his face, which, to his dismay, came out more like a grimace.

"Well, Colonel, funny you should ask that. You see, I was just so excited to give my report to you that I came, uh, a week early. But, you'd already left for the night, so I decided to wait for you. Too bad you never come in early, huh? Wow, look at the time- I bet Al's looking for me… Bye, then!" Ed explained, realizing that his excuse had sounded a lot less stupid in his head. Instead of facing the obviously baffled Mustang and Hawkeye, he simply bolted for the door, stuffing his notebook inside his coat pocket and making sure not to look back.

Mustang and Hawkeye stood in absolute silence, staring dumbfounded at the door, trying to vaguely understand Edward's inexplicably strange behavior.

"Sir?" Hawkeye began weakly.

"Yes?"

"There was something off about him, wasn't there?"

"Something?! Everything was off about that kid!"

* * *

Once outside of the military building and back into the cool morning air, Edward immediately cursed his impulsiveness. Thinking back, there were about a million of options that he could have chosen as an alternative to going to Mustang's office. Unfortunately, he his frantic, adrenaline filled self had really not paid much heed to common sense.

That aside, he was pretty sure that Mustang and Hawkeye though he was either insane or secretly plotting to kill them in their sleep. His "excuse" was more like him baiting them to investigate his strange behavior.

"Idiot," he muttered, barely audible to his own ears.

Had it been worth it? He was unsure at the moment. He swiftly dove a hand into his coat pocket, fishing for his notes hungrily. The moment he laid his eyes on his treasured possession, he knew that it had been. If it was for Al, even the most drastic measure could be considered worth it in his eyes.

Almost as if on autopilot, his legs carried him in the direction of a park bench, and he collapsed onto it. With shaking hands, he flipped each travel worn page aside until he had reached his most recent entry. He had to see it again, to insure that it had really actually been there to start with. After all, he had barely been in his right mind when he wrote it.

After scanning his coded words for a few seconds, however, his spirits sunk. The happy smile that he hadn't even been aware that he was wearing fading into desperation, and then misery. Everything he had written, every theory, they were all correct as far as he could tell, but…

It would be suicide. Even if things all went according to plan, he would obviously die, no doubt about it. He had escaped the soul transmutation with only the loss of his arm, but this… He could exchange nothing short of his life for Al's body.

With an animalistic growl, Edward tossed his notebook onto the damp grass before him. All of his previous hope, gone in a flash.

His depression soon turned to anger. How could he have even considered this to be a good idea?! What was he thinking?! He was such a moron for believing in such an easy fix!

With no other outlet for his frustration, he could think of nothing else to do but scream. No one was in the area to hear his anguished cry, and when he voice finally died in his throat, he curled into himself on the cold metal bench, hands clutching painfully at either arm, his body shaking with unshed emotion.

How many times would he have to fail before he finally learned his lesson? `

* * *

A/N- So there it is! Please, please _please_ review it! I need to know if I should continue this story!


	2. Over the Edge

AN- Well, here's the second chapter of Necessary End!

Just to clear things up, I'd like to just say that, while I love parental RoyEd stories as much as the next person, I really want to keep this as realistic as possible (yeah, I know, the whole story is kind of an AU, but bear with me) and parental RoyEd stories don't really pay much attention to detail. So, even though it may seem as if Roy is kind of distant to Ed and Alphonse, I guess that's just how I interpreted it. I still love their interaction, but Roy just isn't the caring, parental type, and Ed and Al just aren't a huge part of his life, sorry. (Which is why I hate RoyEd, by the way.)

Oh, and I really didn't want to write one of those stories where Ed and Al get ambushed by some idiotic villains and totally get their butts kicked and freak out and stuff. You forget that their teacher was Izumi. I think that they are made of tougher stuff than that. So, please don't think "What? Those villains must be so pathetic!" Its not their fault.

Lastly, don't think that this is going to be one of those stories where Al is discarded so that Ed and Roy can have their parental nonsense. Nope. Al is gonna be a major part, and much bigger than Roy. He isn't going to come crying to Roy because he has no idea what to do about Ed, because frankly, how would Roy know more about Ed than Al does? Al will only come to Roy because he wants some help, not because he's a helpless, clueless kid. Nope. Al is awesome, give him some credit!

Sorry for the rant, but here's the story!

* * *

By all means, Edward _should_ have gotten rid of the page of his notebook that contained all his suicidal theories. After all, if Al ever discovered them, he was sure to go ballistic, and would most likely feel betrayed that Ed had even considered keeping something so important from him. And he couldn't risk hurting Al that way. Still, Edward soon found that he couldn't part this new hope towards his goal.

Instead, when he finally managed to pull himself together and gather his thoughts, he stuffed the thin scrap of paper in the only place he could think of where it would always be with him and be safe from Alphonse: his military pocket watch.

From that day on, Edward did his best to purge himself of all memory of the idea, and for the most part, he was much too preoccupied in his furious search for the Philosopher's Stone to consider much of anything. Yet, the temptation was always there, hanging innocently from his belt loop.

Sometimes, when the disappointment of a failed lead came to be too much for him to bear, Edward would crack open his watch and peer down at his last resort. He would run through his theories, planning out each rune of the transmutation circle it would require. Every time, though, he would have to remind himself of Al. Even with a body of his own, without Ed, he would have no family left. In a way, by offering himself, Edward would be abandoning his little brother, just like their father had abandoned them years ago. At the moment, Ed simply wasn't ready to stoop to that man's level.

With every failure, the temptation began to become increasingly difficult to resist. Looking down at Al from his hotel bed, seeing how lonely he looked, unable to sleep, all alone in the haunting darkness, a new wave of guilt would wash over him. Why wasn't he just doing it? Was he so afraid of death that he would deprive Al of a chance to live? He was a pathetic older brother.

All of this guilt mounting up, all Edward really needed was one push over the edge to make him give in.

* * *

The train whistle blew, a long and lonely wail, over the sound of the torrent of rain hitting the wet ground, waking Edward out of a deep sleep. As he gazed groggily at his surroundings, it took a moment for him to realize where he was.

"Brother? Are you awake?" Alphonse's voice came from the seat directly across his older brother, the echo in his voice sounding especially eerie and forlorn in the midst of the storm.

"Yeah, Al," Ed replied, attempting not to sound too gruff, "This is our stop, right? East Headquarters, here we come…" he continued, all of his attempts to mask his dismal mood becoming less and less apparent by the second. After all, he knew that Alphonse was probably in just as unpleasant a mood as he was.

Both brothers took it hard when a promising lead on the Philosopher's Stone was lost, but this one had perhaps been the most frustrating loss yet. For months, Ed and Al had been working tirelessly to find a retired state alchemist, whose theories on human transmutation had been invaluable to the military while he served, only to be caught up having to deal with long kept military secrets and conspiracies that seemed to be centered on the man. At the end of their struggle, they came to a dead end when discovering that, among the vast expanse of lies and misnomers, it was apparent that the man had been killed long ago, and most of the stories of his miracle theories were just created as a cover-up.

It had been beyond disappointing, but now, to top it all off, they were returning to East Headquarters, where Ed would be expected to explain why he had been gone for four months without any word to the military, or taking any official orders and assignments. Edward was certain that Mustang would have a few words to put in about his disappearance, none of which he really felt up to listening to at the moment. There was no chance that Mustang would take into account the number of sleepless nights that Ed had spent with his brother whilst chasing the hopeless lead, nor would he able to distinguish Ed's surliness for the fact that his automail ports were aching to no end due to the downcast weather that seemed to be following the brothers where ever they went.

Ed cautiously stood up, wishing that he had chosen a more comfortable position to sleep in on the ride as he desperately tried to work the kinks out of his sore muscles. Edward glanced briefly at Alphonse, who seemed to be watching his every move, with what Ed could have sworn was a discouraged expression on his impassive armor body. As he began to make his way off of the train and into the downpour, Ed was certain he could feel his depression increasing with every icy drop of rain that fell.

After a while of continuing on their way through East City in silence, Al looked suddenly made a soft sound, as if he had remembered something.

"Brother! Don't try and get out of reporting to the Colonel! You know that it'll just get worse if you put it off!" Alphonse reprimanded Edward, who mentally cursed his ever well-mannered brother for noticing his subtle attempt to evade the inevitable trip to Mustang by simply walking straight towards the hotel instead of HQ.

"Al! It's not like it's really important-" Edward whined, but was cut off by Al, who was clearly not in the mood for Edward's ever present stubbornness.

"Don't," he said, with such acidity that Edward was surprised that it wasn't Winry, complaining at his neglectful automail maintenance. He was forced to remind himself that Alphonse's body prevented him from being able to read his younger brother's feelings, and that Al was probably feeling just as dismal as he was himself at the moment. The ever-present guilt crept back upon him once more as he reluctantly began to slog his way through the rain towards East HQ, and his impending doom.

"Finally made it back to report, I see, Fullmetal," Mustang said in his annoyingly cool and collected tone, gazing at a soaked Edward through impassive eyes. Edward scowled deeply while he sat down on the expensive couch, not caring in the slightest to ruin military furniture, as long as it might annoy Mustang.

"Care to explain why you haven't reported in… hmmm, over four months? You know, this job isn't exactly free. I can have you discharged faster than you can say-"

"Shut up," Edward interjected, his expression growing increasingly sour. Mustang seemed lightly surprised by Edward's unusually foul mood, but continued regardless.

"Well, I will at least have you know how many assignments there are piled up for you, after all of that time. And I know that you have more important things to do, but I'm assigning you one, whether you like it or not," Mustang stated as he rifled through a disturbingly full file cabinet labeled "Fullmetal's Overdue Assignments."

"What is it?" Edward asked, his sense of dread increasing as he peered cautiously at the thick assignment description that Mustang finally settled on pulling out.

"Starting in one week, Fullmetal, you are officially ordered to report to the border of Drachma for control against some alchemists, who have apparently been getting quite out of hand lately. You are ordered to remain on the task of border control for at least a month." Roy said casually, handing over the report file.

"What? You have to be joking! A month? I can't take that much time away from research," Ed said, panicked at the mere thought of wasting over a month working on border control against Drachmians who probably knew about as much about alchemy as he had when he was six, and had I.Q. scores lower than mildly intelligent gorillas.

"Frankly, I'm just as shocked as you are, Fullmetal. Knowing you, you'll probably ruin what unstable peace we have with the Drachmians, considering your level of diplomatic skills," Mustang continued frankly, trying to hide the fact that he really did feel bad for giving Edward a mission such as this one.

"You #$%2! How much longer do you want me to leave Alphonse without a body?" Edward seethed in indignation, jumping to his feet. Mustang stood up from his desk, and carefully looked Edward in the eyes, dropping the impassive attitude.

"Do you realize that I'm trying to keep you from getting dismissed from the military? I thought you were more intelligent than this Fullmetal, because you don't seem to understand that being a state alchemist isn't just a bunch of free privileges! You're still on the military's leash, no matter how you try and avoid it. I'm sorry about this, I really am," Mustang reprimanded, glaring at his subordinate, who only seemed to be getting more livid at his words.

"Fine," Ed spat, giving Mustang one last venomous glare before spinning angrily on his heel, stomping out, and slamming the door so hard that the walls shook dangerously.

Once Roy was certain that Edward was gone, he let out a sigh, whether for exasperation, relief, or something else entirely, he couldn't say.

* * *

Out of Mustang's earshot, Ed began muttering under his breath spitefully. If Al had ears to cover, he surely would have, with all the profanities he was learning all from one sentence alone. He wasn't even sure where Ed had picked up half of the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Brother… it's not _that_ bad. And aren't you supposed to try and censor yourself around me?"

" Who cares, anyway? We just got sent away for a whole month, Al! I'm pretty sure that's as bad as it gets! We're gonna waste so much time!" Ed spat, throwing the last door open haphazardly and stepping out once again into the misty rain, not looking back once to see if his brother was following him.

To this, Alphonse simply sighed breathlessly and rolled his helmet in a way suggesting an eye roll. Ed, oblivious to Al's actions, continued storming off in no particular direction.

"C'mon. Let's at least try to find a decent hotel that won't leave us bankrupt. I forgot to get more money out of my grants," Edward yelled over his shoulder towards Al.

Wordlessly, Al fell into step beside his brother. Ed continued on his way, still muttering under his breath, his gaze focused solely on the rain soaked ground.

"Do you even know where you're going?" Al asked after a few moments, looking around at their current, unfamiliar surroundings.

"I have a basic idea. Close enough," Ed replied quickly, while not even giving the decency to look up and make sure he actually knew where he was leading them.

It appeared that Ed's "basic idea" had directed them to a less welcoming part of the city. The street all seemed to be lined with seedy bars full of rambunctious, laughing men drinking way too much. Empty cigarette boxes and broken beer bottles layers the grungy sidewalks, and the air seemed permanently clouded with a thick layer of smoke, whether from pollution, or from the various smokers that stood outside it was difficult to tell. The streets mainly consisted of dark alleyways and buildings with more broken windows than intact.

Overall, the area seemed treacherous and suspicious, enough so to make Al slightly uncomfortable as he glanced nervously at his surroundings. He could almost feel the piercing looks he was receiving from the inhabitants, who didn't seem generally pleased to have out of place strangers walking past, one looking absolutely livid and the other in a huge, intimidating suit of armor. The deeper they walked into the section of town, the more apparent it became that they were outsiders, and not welcome in the slightest in such a place. Alphonse began to wish that the chain of Edward's military pocket watch was shining a bit less obviously in the meager amount of sunlight.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the two heard the deep voice of a man calling from an obscured alleyway.

"Hey! You!"

Both brothers' heads shot up and glanced around in the direction of the voice. What they found was a rather brawny, dangerous looking man, holding himself with an air of superiority that could outclass Mustang's as he called over to the two teenagers. The man was grinning maliciously, his eyes flashing through a pair of sunglasses. The various silver chains he had strung around his neck clanged together ominously when he raised his had to beckon the two towards him. Upon further inspection, you could make out the figures of at least five other men standing threateningly behind him, some of whom where blatantly concealing weapons from within their heavy layers of clothing.

"That's a pretty nice watch you got, there," Growled the man who had spoken before. He had a nasty smirk planted across his beefy, unkempt face. He spoke between drags off of a large, nasty smelling cigar that he had clenched between two calloused fingers. Several of the men flanking him grunted, finding some sick humor in the man's obvious intentions, while others simply nodded appreciatively.

"It's probably worth a lot, wouldn't ya say?" Commented another man over to his leader's right. The men began to loom in around Edward, who had a distinctly unimpressed expression on his face. Alphonse's sense of dread increased, as he hoped desperately that his brother wouldn't do anything too rash.

"I know I dealer who'd just love that! Probably give me at least 4 grand for it. Why don't we find out then, shall we?" Said the leader, his grin widening cruelly when two of his men, as if on his silent cue, pulled out their guns with frightening accuracy, and trained them at Edward and Alphonse's exposed heads. He seemed incredibly pleased with himself until the sound of Ed's bitter laughter suddenly rang out above the deadly silence.

"Well, this will be the perfect ending to a crappy day, won't it, Al?" Edward said through gritted teeth.

Which is when everything went to h***.

Within seconds, Ed had shot off of the ground and landed a heavy kick right into the first gunman's unprotected chest, completely paying no heed to the gun cocked right at his face. With a loud gasp, the man toppled over, huffing for breath like a fish deprived of water.

Slightly taken aback by the tiny boy's strength, the other men gaped for a moment, guns sagging forward slowly. Ed wasted no time in charging towards them, a loose cannon filled with anger. Recovering, they pointed their weapons in his direction, but it was no use. A couple of guns didn't stand a chance to Ed when he'd been set off. In moments, he had three men on the ground in a heap, and was taking his time kicking them in the face with his thick boots, his personal punching bags. When two more men lashed out at him, both brandishing fearsome knives in their skillful hands, Ed managed to deftly sidestep their blades as they were swiftly aimed for him, before skillfully taking them down with practiced ease. Al had to flinch as one of the surliest men let out an unmanly whimper as he fell to the ground after one of Ed's harder blows.

"Ummm, Brother? Try not to kill them, okay?" Al said, in the middle of expertly taking down the last attacker that Ed hadn't already pummeled thoroughly into the dirty sidewalk.

Hearing this, Ed recoiled for a moment, kicking blood off of the heel of his boot.

"Fine, fine." He huffed, breathing heavily from the fight.

The two were about to step away from the scene of the crime when they heard the foreboding click of a gun from behind. Slowly, they turned their heads to see the first man, holding an large, deadly gun and pointing it straight for Edward's chest. He was shaking noticeably, and still seemed out of breath from Ed's kick, but also had a murderous glint to his dark, cold eyes.

"Don't move, either of you," he hissed, eyes moving back and forth between both brothers, calculating which to shoot first no doubt.

Edward didn't seem particularly threatened by the gun at first, and slowly put his hands in the air, expression passive. Al followed suit, though he seemed much more apprehensive about the current situation.

"Hey, put that thing down-," Ed began, but was cut off by the crack of the gun being fired. It took only a split second for Edward to realize that the bullet was hurdling towards him, directly towards his unprotected chest. His eyes widened with fear and he twitched as if to move out of the way, but it was already too late. He was definitely going to die.

The bullet never made it to him, however. Instead, the sound of metal beating upon metal filled the air, and Al, who had stepped into the way just in time, was thrown backwards several feet with the force of the blow, into a large store window behind them, shattering the glass, and sending thousands of tiny shards hurtling into the air.

"Alphonse!" Edward screamed, looking in shock at Al's unmoving armor.

Without a second thought, Edward turned on his heel and rushed at the man who had just shot Al. With a vicious roar, he smashed his metal fist directly into the man's meaty forehead, not giving him any time to react. His gun clattered to the asphalt street.

Not even checking to see if he had rendered the man unconscious or not, Edward turned his attention back towards his brother once again.

"Al! Al, are you okay?" He frantically raced to his brother's side, inspecting his brother's armor, his heart thumping audibly in his chest as he realized that Alphonse's chest plate had been blown off with the force of his impact with the window. A small bullet hole had visibly pierced all the way through the armor, frighteningly close to Al's blood seal. There were tiny fractures in the armor had appeared around the bullet hole, each hovering mere millimeters away from the precious blood-red circle, the sight alone enough to make Edward's heart skip a beat in panic.

"Of course I am, Brother," Alphonse replied, picking himself up from the ground and trying to locate his helmet, which had flown of his body when he had fallen, and now lay somewhere among the shards of glass littering the ground. "I'm made out of metal, remember?" He said frankly, not seeming at all fazed by the fact that he had been shot.

"Yeah, but look! You came so close to having your blood seal ripped right out!" Ed protested.

"And you came so close to having your heart ripped out. A simple "thank you" will do," Al said calmly.

"But you could have died!" Ed continued, his emotions ranging from panic to worry to frustration in the matter of seconds.

"I'd be okay with that, as long as I'd have saved you. You know that I'd die for you, brother."

"You… you can't really mean that," Ed said, voice breaking. Al would die for him, while he was too afraid to. Sure, he'd risked his life for Al once before, but now he was getting cold feet.

"Yes I do!" Al said, sounding almost pleased, while Edward was anything but. The thought that Alphonse would put his life in jeopardy so willingly, without thinking, made him physically sick. He felt his knees grow weak as he collapsed to the glass-ridden ground, hearing the shards crack under his automail knee, while feeling pain as the glass easily pierced through his opposite leg. He sat frozen on the ground, the guilt and the shock crashing down on him, preventing him from moving at all.

"Brother? Are you okay? Brother!" He vaguely heard Al's voice calling to him, as if through a foggy tunnel, and he barely had the energy to nod, and make sure that Alphonse knew that he was fine.

But he wasn't fine.

As if on autopilot, he picked up Alphonse's chest plate and ran his gloved finger around the tiny bullet hole. He eased the heavy metal back up onto Alphonse's chest, his hands shaking slightly as he tried to contain the emotions that ran through his body like a wildfire. Ignoring Alphonse's worried, questioning look, he slowly walked over to the fallen body of the man who had shot Al. When his eyes reached the gun, he couldn't help but let out a savage growl as he kicked the gun in utter frustration, only slightly satisfied to hear the metal crack under his hard automail.

He was still staring heatedly down at the unconscious man's body, breathing hard from his untamed emotions, when he began to hear sirens in the distance, realizing that it was probably that military responding to a nearby resident's call, heading in their direction. He only vaguely registered the fact though, and it was still a surprise when he distantly heard Mustang's voice behind him apparently talking in hushed tone with Al. When he had shown up, he wasn't sure. That man just happened to have a freakish tendency to know exactly where the trouble was and then somehow manage to show up there.

" You took out all of these men by yourselves?"  
"Yes…"

"Do you realize that these men were escaped convicts, supposedly considered to be highly dangerous?"

"Um, no, sir."

"Is Fullmetal okay?"

"I'm… not really sure. He seemed fine before, but…"

"Fullmetal!" Mustang called, which finally pulled Edward out of his reverie. He turned around, still in somewhat of a trance. Mustang seemed to look Edward over for any signs of gaping wounds or hidden trauma, but, finding nothing life threatening, he decided to take the usual approach.

"Fullmetal, do you know that you're bleeding?" Mustang questioned lightly, referring to the glass that the currently stuck deeply into his kneecap, causing sticky blood to run down his dark black pants and mingling with the rain water running down the streets. Edward only managed to grit his teeth, but couldn't bring himself to retaliate.

Roy waited for a moment, becoming perplexed at the fact that Edward decided to answer at all.

"Ummm… yeah. I guess I should get that," Edward said in monotone. Without so much as a slight hesitation, he grabbed the shard of glass and slid it out of his leg, much to Mustang and Alphonse's astonishment. He didn't so much as blink an eye even as the blood gushed out openly. Mustang took a moment to get over the momentary shock of watching Edward act so strangely, almost robotically.

"Hey, Al. Can you head back to the hotel? I- uh, have something I have to take care of. I'll meet back up with you in…um… soon, okay?" He said vaguely, avoiding Alphonse's gaze, before turning and walking hurriedly away. After a few seconds, he seemed to hesitate, and turned around once more, locking eyes with Alphonse.

"Thanks," he said distantly, before turning around and running off into the night.

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review! It would make my day! (If you care!)


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